Serial Killershttp://www.crimemagazine.com/taxonomy/term/8/all
enJack The Ripper -- We Still Do Not Know Who He Washttp://www.crimemagazine.com/jack-ripper-we-still-do-not-know-who-he-was
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB"><img src="http://crimemagazine.com/images/ripper_Jack.jpg" alt="" width="500" /></span></em></p></div></div></div>Fri, 26 Dec 2014 17:10:59 +0000admin1666 at http://www.crimemagazine.comExorcising Dahmer’s Ghost http://www.crimemagazine.com/exorcising-dahmer%E2%80%99s-ghost
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p></p></div></div></div>Thu, 11 Sep 2014 20:02:02 +0000admin1643 at http://www.crimemagazine.comAdoptees Who Kill: Examining the Psychological, Societal and Criminal Justice Ramifications of Adopted Child Syndromehttp://www.crimemagazine.com/adoptees-who-kill-examining-psychological-societal-and-criminal-justice-ramifications-adopted-child
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p style="text-align: center;"><em><img src="http://www.crimemagazine.com/sites/default/files/David_Berkowitz_2.jpg" alt="" width="350" /></em></p></div></div></div>Mon, 07 Apr 2014 20:03:42 +0000admin1589 at http://www.crimemagazine.comThe Real Lady Macbeth: Countess Erzsébet Báthoryhttp://www.crimemagazine.com/real-lady-macbeth-countess-erzs%C3%A9bet-b%C3%A1thory
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p style="text-align: left;" align="center"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Jan. 13, 2014<strong><br /></strong></span></p>
<p align="center"><strong><img src="http://crimemagazine.com/images/elizabeth-bathory.jpg" alt="" width="250" /></strong></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Countess Erzsébet Báthory</span></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-size: large;">by <a href="http://crimemagazine.com/category/authors/david-robb" rel="nofollow">David Robb</a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;">L</span>ady Macbeth is perhaps the most famous fictional female villainess in all of literature, but in 1606, while William Shakespeare was creating her bloodthirsty character, one of the world’s worst real life villainess was on a serial murder spree like no other.</p>
<p>All but forgotten today, Countess Erzsébet Báthory was descended from one of the noblest families in the Hungarian region of Transylvania. But Erzsébet wasn’t like other girls – she liked to torture and murder them. All told, she may have murdered more than 650 young girls and virgins. The exact number won’t be known until the government of Hungary makes public her diary, which reportedly contains the names of all her victims – a diary so shocking that Hungarian authorities have kept it under lock and key for over 400 years.</p>
<p>Testimony from the ensuing trial revealed that she bit hunks of flesh from the bodies of her victims while they were still alive. Legend has it that she bathed in their blood, believing that this would preserve her youth. No one knows for sure why she did it. What is known is that she murdered <em>at least</em> three-times more young women than did Jack the Ripper – and possibly 100-times more. She was the most prolific female mass murderer of all time, and perhaps the most prolific serial killer – male or female – ever to live. </p>
</div></div></div>Mon, 13 Jan 2014 20:39:48 +0000admin1520 at http://www.crimemagazine.comPro Bono: The 18-Year Defense of Caril Ann Fugate http://www.crimemagazine.com/pro-bono-18-year-defense-caril-ann-fugate
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/crimemagazi0b-20/detail/1479108375" rel="nofollow"><em><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51O78pgCLRL.jpg" alt="" height="300" width="199" /></em></a><em>An excerpt from </em><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/crimemagazi0b-20/detail/1479108375" rel="nofollow">Pro Bono: The 18-Year Defense of Caril Ann Fugate</a><em> by Jeff McArthur (Bandwagon Books). An account of how her trial lawyer – who believed in her innocence – continued to represent her for free until she was paroled in 1976. In 1959, 19-year-old Charlie Starkweather was convicted of murdering 11 people. He was sentenced to death. Caril Fugate, his 14-year-old ex-girlfriend was convicted in a separate trial and sentenced to life. </em></p>
</div></div></div>Mon, 21 Oct 2013 20:09:32 +0000admin1430 at http://www.crimemagazine.comThe Gay Slayerhttp://www.crimemagazine.com/gay-slayer
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://crimemagazine.com/images/Colin%20Ireland.jpg" alt="" height="299" width="228" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Colin Ireland</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Colin</em><em> Ireland</em><em> was a nobody who wanted to become a somebody by becoming a serial killer. Like two serial killers before him, he trolled the </em>Coleherne Pub in Earls Court<em> for gay men to murder. </em></p>
<p align="center"><span style="font-size: large;">by <a href="http://www.crimemagazine.com/category/authors/mark-pulham">Mark Pulham</a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;">E</span>arls Court has been many things in its time. During the late 1800s, it was the Bohemian quarter of London, and in the 1940s, following World War II, it was inhabited by Polish immigrants, which led the area to be nicknamed “The Danzig Corridor.” In the 1960’s it was taken over by Australian and New Zealand travelers which led to a new nickname, “Kangaroo Valley.”</p>
<p>It was the home to many of the famous. Alfred Hitchcock lived in the area, as did Howard Carter, the man who discovered the Tomb of Tutankhamun. Hollywood film star Stewart Granger was born in Earls Court; lead singer of Queen, Freddie Mercury, lived there; and probably most famously, Princess Diana had a flat there for a couple of years before she married Prince Charles.</p>
<p>Roman Polanski filmed the 1965 movie <em>Repulsion</em> in Earls Court, and the 1981 horror comedy<em> An American Werewolf in London</em> was also filmed there. And the 1941 novel by Patrick Hamilton, <em>Hanover Square,</em> was set in Earls Court.</p>
</div></div></div>Mon, 12 Aug 2013 21:57:26 +0000admin1316 at http://www.crimemagazine.comIs the Suffolk Strangler Still at Large? http://www.crimemagazine.com/suffolk-strangler-still-large
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://crimemagazine.com/images/SteveWright.jpg" alt="" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Steve Wright</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>The murders of five prostitutes by the </em><em>Suffolk</em><em> Strangler in 2006 set off one of the largest manhunts in British history. DNA evidence led to the arrest and conviction of a man who admitted he had sex with four of the five dead women, but was he the actual serial killer? </em></p>
<p class="PreformattedText" align="center"><span style="font-size: large;">by <a href="http://www.crimemagazine.com/category/siobhan-patricia-mulcahy">Siobhan Patricia Mulcahy</a></span></p>
<p class="PreformattedText"><span style="font-size: x-large;">D</span>uring November and December of 2006, five prostitutes were murdered one at a time in Ipswich, England. Although each was asphyxiated and not strangled, the British media dubbed the serial killer “the Suffolk Strangler.” </p>
<p class="PreformattedText">Forensic evidence suggested that all five victims were attacked from behind and that the assailant put his arm across the victims’ throats to render them unconscious. The first two bodies were found fully or partially clothed in a nearby river in Ipswich. The last three victims were left naked in woodlands near the same area; no attempt had been made to hide or bury the bodies. Each victim was arranged in the form of a crucifix with her hair extended outwards in the form of a halo. Jewelry and other trinkets were taken from the victims but have never been recovered.</p>
<p class="PreformattedText">The victims were 19-year-old Tania Nicol, 25-year-old Gemma Adams, 24-year-old Anneli Alderton, 29-year-old Annette Nichols, and 24-year-old Paula Clennell. Clennell, the fifth and final victim, had predicted her own murder during a television interview about the serial killer. She had been friends with the other victims as they worked the same streets touting for passing trade.</p>
<p class="PreformattedText">At the time of the murders, Suffolk police asked the Forensic Science Service to assist in one of the largest murder manhunts in British history. From the time Tania Nicol was reported missing on November 1, 2006, the police investigation involved 600 officers from nearly every law enforcement force in Great Britain. The inquiry team received more than 12,000 calls from members of the public and almost 11,000 hours of closed-circuit TV footage were scrutinized.</p>
</div></div></div>Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:56:14 +0000admin1101 at http://www.crimemagazine.comThe Shankill Butchershttp://www.crimemagazine.com/node/855
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><img src="http://crimemagazine.com/images/Murder Squad detectives.jpg" alt="" width="400" /></em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Over a 10-year-year period, from 1972 to 1982, the Shankill Butchers gang, led by psychopath Lenny Murphy, terrorized Northern Ireland Catholics, becoming the most prolific group of serial killers in British history.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">by <a href="http://crimemagazine.com/category/authors/robert-walsh" rel="nofollow">Robert Walsh</a></span></p>
<p>“A lasting monument to blind sectarian bigotry.” – The Shankill Butchers, as described by their trial judge, Lord Justice O’Donnel.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;">I</span>reland in general (and Northern Ireland in particular) has long had a troubled, violent and dark history. Invasions, rebellions, famine, revolution, civil war and what are generally described as “The Troubles” have cast a long shadow over the Emerald Isle and its neighbor (and former colonial ruler) Great Britain. In recent years, especially after the peace talks and ceasefire of the early 1990’s, both the British and Irish people have begun to bury their differences and to explore their common history, dark and uncomfortable though it often is. One of the darkest episodes was that of the Shankill Butchers.</p>
</div></div></div>Thu, 07 Feb 2013 19:22:20 +0000admin855 at http://www.crimemagazine.comMurdering for a Storyhttp://www.crimemagazine.com/murdering-story
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://crimemagazine.com/images/KrystianBala.jpg" alt="" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Krystian Bala</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>A reporter emerges from obscurity by writing exclusive articles about the serial-murder victims he killed; an aspiring crime writer murders for a good plot. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">by <a href="http://crimemagazine.com/category/authors/ben-johnson" rel="nofollow">Ben Johnson</a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;">M</span>urder and the media have always gone hand in hand. Some of the greatest and most provocative journalism and greatest books ever written come from the dark and disturbing world of violent crime.</p>
<p>One of the greatest breaks a reporter can wish for in his or her career is stumbling upon an exclusive involving serial murder. It is the kind of topic that can propel a journalist into the limelight. An example of this phenomenon is the aspiring political cartoonist Robert Graysmith who was a member of the <em>San Francisco</em><em> Chronicle's</em> junior staff before his tenacity in the still unsolved Zodiac murders propelled him to international fame, culminating in book deals and a major Hollywood movie.</p>
<p>The thirst for this kind of fame and recognition can, however, be dangerously addictive to some, resulting in risk-taking and ethically questionable behavior. Perhaps the most notable example of this is Phil Stanford, who corresponded with Keith Hunter Jesperson (the Happy Face Killer) and defied the wishes of local law enforcement by publishing a series of articles which proved that two innocent people were serving time for Jesperson's first murder. Although Stanford took huge risks and could be said to have acted unethically due to publishing his series of articles against the wishes of the police, nobody could argue that his actions were not in the public interest, and therefore in this case, the risk paid off.</p>
</div></div></div>Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:47:50 +0000admin811 at http://www.crimemagazine.comCriminal Profile: Il Monstrohttp://www.crimemagazine.com/criminal-profile-il-monstro
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://crimemagazine.com/images/italy-monster-of-florence.jpg" alt="" height="300" width="400" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>“Il Monstro” or “The Monster of </em><em>Florence</em><em>” killed and mutilated eight couples in the Italian countryside between 1968 and 1985. Although the crimes took place sporadically over 17 years, there were many distinctive elements, enough to provide a profile of the serial killer who was never caught. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">by <a href="http://crimemagazine.com/category/authors/dr-nicola-davies" rel="nofollow">Dr. Nicola J. Davies</a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;">I</span>t is one of the most perplexing and fascinating crime sprees in the annals of unsolved murders. “Il Monstro” or “The Monster of Florence” killed and mutilated eight couples in the Italian countryside between 1968 and 1985. Despite numerous arrests and convictions, the true killer or killers remain undiscovered. Various books, films and investigators have theorized on the perpetrator of these brutal crimes, but with no physical evidence being left at the murder scenes, there is little to link the crimes to a perpetrator. However, while the perpetrator/s has never been apprehended, a psychological profile of “The Monster of Florence” can be assembled, providing insight into this killer and his motivations.</p>
</div></div></div>Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:49:16 +0000admin797 at http://www.crimemagazine.comSerial Killers and the Mediahttp://www.crimemagazine.com/serial-killers-and-media
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://crimemagazine.com/images/FromHellLetter.jpg" alt="Jack the Ripper's &quot;From Hell&quot; Letter" width="200" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Jack the Ripper's "From Hell" Letter</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>From Jack the Ripper through B.T.K. in Wichita, Kansas, certain serial killers crave media attention to chronicle their infamous deeds.</em><strong><br /></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">by <a href="http://crimemagazine.com/category/authors/ben-johnson" rel="nofollow">Ben Johnson</a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span>he relationship between serial killers and the media is one that has spanned centuries and divided opinion.</p>
<p>From the panic-inciting Penny Dreadfuls published in the fog-filled squalor of Victorian London slums, to the online, on demand, news consumed in the high-tech offices of today, there can be no doubt about one thing: Serial killers sell newspapers, and nobody exploits this fact more than a killer with a desire to be acknowledged.</p>
<p>Some killers are merely happy to collect the cuttings telling of their foul deeds, clipped from the pages of lurid tabloid newspapers. Some use these stories to relive their terrible crimes and some take things a step further. They write their own news.</p>
<p>These infamous few are unique in the world of crime, taunting police with their boastful claims, causing panic amidst communities around the world, and puzzling the minds of right thinking members of society with their cryptic clues and ciphers.</p>
<p>Whether we like it or not, these killers become celebrities. Dark-hearted stars who cause revulsion and fascination in equal measure.</p>
</div></div></div>Mon, 29 Oct 2012 21:19:41 +0000admin519 at http://www.crimemagazine.comBTK: The Serial Killer Next Doorhttp://www.crimemagazine.com/btk-serial-killer-next-door
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://crimemagazine.com/images/btk_court.jpg" alt="Dennis Rader" width="300" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dennis Rader</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Over a 17-year span that ended in 1991, Dennis Rader, who dubbed himself “BTK,” murdered 10 people. Fourteen years later, in an attempt for lasting notoriety, the psychopath who became the president of his Lutheran congregation, led Wichita police to his front door. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">by <a href="http://crimemagazine.com/category/authors/denise-noe" rel="nofollow">Denise Noe</a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;">F</span>or years on end, Wichita, Kansas and its surrounding environs were terrorized by a most peculiar serial murderer. Part of what made him so “peculiar” was that people who knew him in everyday life found him utterly normal. In contrast to the stereotype of the serial murderer as a lonely bachelor, Dennis Rader, who would become infamous as “BTK,” was a pillar of the community. His wife and two children loved him, he was able to rise to the top rung of his Lutheran congregation’s administration, he was active as a Scout leader, and he was able to keep his last job as a glorified dog catcher for 15 years. He literally was the serial killer next door.</p>
<p>On the other hand, he was totally without compassion or empathy for any of his victims, not even small children victims. He was a remorseless serial killer who aspired in his later years to treat his killings as if they were a motion picture and live in infamy after his death, his family be damned. </p>
<p>His background offers frustratingly few clues to what led to the warping of his personality – but warped it most assuredly was. Although he did not want the homicidal desires that obsessed him, enacting them did not leave him tormented. He could torment and murder, then return home or attend church with not the slightest sign of guilt or distress. What remains mysterious is how such extreme abnormality co-existed with a façade of perfect normalcy.</p>
</div></div></div>Mon, 16 Jul 2012 17:17:41 +0000admin409 at http://www.crimemagazine.comThe Case of the Drowning Men: The Smiley Face Serial Murder Theoryhttp://www.crimemagazine.com/case-drowning-men-smiley-face-serial-murder-theory
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #ff0000;">Special to Crime Magazine</span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VxzpeueBL.jpg" alt="The Case of the Drowning Men: Investigating the Smiley Face Serial Murder Theory by Eponymous Rox." width="200" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">An excerpt from <a href="http://astore.amazon.com/crimemagazi0b-20/detail/1438223803" rel="nofollow"><em>The Case of the Drowning Men: Investigating the Smiley Face Serial Murder Theory</em></a> by Eponymous Rox.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The police are calling them accidents. They say young men are simply drinking too much and meeting a tragic end in icy lakes and rivers. But, with sinister graffiti frequently found near where the victims died, the public thinks something else has been going on in America's northland since 1997. They're calling the sudden disappearances of hundreds of college-age men mysterious. They're calling the drownings <em>murder</em>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong> </strong><span style="font-size: large;">by <a href="http://crimemagazine.com/category/authors/eponymous-rox" rel="nofollow">Eponymous Rox</a></span></p>
<p><strong>Chapter 1: Dead Certain</strong></p>
<p>Since the mid 1990’s, in the northernmost district of the United States where Interstates 90 and 94 merge to cut a scenic route toward the west, crossing nearly a dozen states along the way and skirting the border with Canada, scores of young men are vanishing every year without a trace. Only to turn up days, weeks, or months later in nearby bodies of water, dead.</p>
<p>Occurring mainly between the months of September to April, it’s the same story repeating itself every time, with little variation: A young man goes out for the evening with his friends, gets separated from them some time after midnight, and, despite massive search efforts by his loved ones to find out what became of him, is never seen alive again.</p>
<p>For local law enforcement officials the hunt for lost men over the past 15 years has become an all too familiar tale of woe as well, not the least because it’s costly and disruptive. But as far as police are concerned, even before they launch an investigation, even before a body’s been recovered from the water and an autopsy performed, it’s always a cut-and-dry case: “No signs of foul play.”</p>
<p>Young people are simply drinking too much, the authorities claim. Young people will do crazy and stupid things when they’re inebriated. They’ll even throw themselves into an icy river or lake and drown.</p>
<p>Seems a reasonable enough explanation on its face, if only one or two fatalities occurring every once in awhile, and a scenario that’s not totally impossible to imagine either. But by the hundreds?</p>
<p>And why only males then? All matching the same description? Washing up in places thoroughly searched before…?</p>
</div></div></div>Thu, 05 Jul 2012 16:58:05 +0000admin407 at http://www.crimemagazine.comThe Son of Samhttp://www.crimemagazine.com/son-sam
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://crimemagazine.com/images/David%20Berkowitz.jpg" alt="David Berkowitz" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>David Berkowitz, “the Son of Sam,” terrorized New Yorkers during a 13-month long killing spree in 1976-1977 before a parking ticket at his last crime scene led to his capture. Now a born-again Christian, he calls himself “the Son of Hope.” </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">by <a href="http://crimemagazine.com/category/authors/mark-pulham" rel="nofollow">Mark Pulham</a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span>he year was 1976, and the United States was celebrating its Bicentennial, especially in the month of July. It was also the year of the summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, and 14-year-old Nadia Comăneci stole the show by becoming the first person in modern Olympic history to achieve a perfect 10.00.</p>
<p>Music was important, and the disco was the place to be. On the week of July 24, the top song on the Billboard Charts was “Kiss And Say Goodbye” by the Manhattans, who had knocked off the previous weeks “Afternoon Delight” from the number one spot.</p>
<p>The Manhattans would stay at number one for the following week, only to be knocked off by Elton John and Kiki Dee singing “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” That same week, Tavares would release “Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel.”</p>
<p>But, by the end of that week, Heaven would be getting an Angel back, and more than one heart was going to be broken.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>The First Victims</strong></p>
<table style="width: 70px; height: 52px;" cellpadding="3" align="right" border="0"><tbody><tr><td><img src="http://crimemagazine.com/images/Jody%20Valenti.gif" alt="Jody Valenti" height="200" /></td>
</tr><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Jody Valenti</span></td>
</tr></tbody></table><p>It was around 1a.m. on Thursday, July 29. It was a warm night, and Jody Valenti had parked her blue Oldsmobile Cutlass on Buhre Avenue in the Pelham Bay area of the Bronx. Her friend, Donna Lauria, lived in an apartment at 2860 Buhre Avenue with her parents. Jody was 19 years old, a student nurse, and Donna, just one year younger, was a medical student.</p>
<p>As Jody and Donna sat in the car, Donna’s parents, Mike and Rose Lauria, were returning home and saw the girls. It was getting late, so Mike told Donna that she should be getting inside. Donna said that she would be up soon. Mike and Rose went upstairs to the apartment, but Mike would be back down in a few minutes to walk the dog.</p>
<p>A few minutes before that a Ford Galaxie had cruised past. The driver of the Galaxie drove a couple of blocks away and parked, then made his way back on foot, keeping to the shadows.</p>
<p>It had been a fun night for the girls. They had spent the evening at the Peachtree Disco in New Rochelle. Now, they chatted together, reliving the night and talking about boys. As they talked, the man circled and came closer to their car, like an animal creeping closer to its prey.</p>
<p>Donna decided it was time to go upstairs and opened the door to get out. As she did, she spotted the man standing at the curb just several feet away from them. He was staring at her. Donna sat back and closed the car door a little, and said, “Who is this guy? What does he want?”</p>
<p>The man was carrying a brown paper bag, and as she watched, he reached in. When his hand came out, he was holding a Charter Arms.44 caliber Bulldog, a snub nosed five-shot revolver.</p>
<p>He dropped to a shooters crouch and aimed the gun using both hands, his elbow resting on his knee to steady his aim. Quickly, he squeezed off five shots, emptying the gun.</p>
<p>The bullets smashed through the windshield.</p>
</div></div></div>Tue, 26 Jun 2012 23:48:57 +0000admin405 at http://www.crimemagazine.comMyths About Serial Killershttp://www.crimemagazine.com/myths-about-serial-killers
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">May 7, 2012</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://crimemagazine.com/images/btk.jpg" alt="Dennis Lynn Rader, &quot;The BTK Killer&quot;" width="300" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dennis Lynn Rader, "The BTK Killer"</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Over the years, thanks to movies like </em>The Silence of the Lambs<em>, public perception about serial killers has become more mythical than factual. In reality, there is no real profile for this rare breed of killer. </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">by <a href="http://crimemagazine.com/category/authors/erin-geyer" rel="nofollow">Erin Geyer</a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-large;">C</span>harles Manson once said “Look down at me and you see a fool; look up at me and you see a God; look straight at me and you see yourself.” These words give us a glimpse into the psyche of a killer. It is hard to say why certain serial killers develop such a tremendous public interest and following in the media. Public perceptions about serial homicide have become more mythical than fact. I will examine the common misconceptions about serial killers, and how the media affects the public’s opinion on this issue. I have always been interested in criminal law, and movies based on murder, mystery, and suspense. Serial killers both disgust and captivate me. Though I could never fathom committing such heinous crimes, I am intrigued by those who do.</p>
<p>Forget Hannibal Lecter. The movie portrayal of serial killers as deranged loners with unusually high IQs is dangerously wrong and can hinder investigations. According to the FBI, serial killers are much different in real life. For years, law enforcement investigators, academics, mental health experts, and the media have studied serial murder, from Jack the Ripper in the late 1800s to the sniper killings in 2002, and from the “Zodiac Killer” in California to the “BTK Killer” in Kansas. These diverse groups have long attempted to understand the complex issues related to serial killers. In 2005, the FBI hosted a symposium in San Antonio, Texas. This report contains the collective insights of a team of experts on serial murder. The symposium’s focus was actually two-fold: to bridge the gap between fact and fiction and to build up our body of knowledge to generate a more effective investigative response.</p>
<p>Much of the general public’s knowledge concerning serial murder is a product of Hollywood productions. Story lines are created to heighten the interest of audiences, rather than to accurately portray the criminal. Law enforcement professionals are subject to the same misinformation from a different source: the use of circumstantial information. Professionals, such as investigators, prosecutors, and pathologists may have limited exposure to serial murder. Their experience may be based upon a single murder series, and the factors in that case are generalized to other serial killers. As a result, stereotypes take root in the police community regarding the nature and characteristics of serial murders.</p>
<p>A growing trend that compounds the fallacies surrounding serial murder is the talking heads phenomenon. A talking head is a person who claims to have an expertise in serial murder. They appear frequently on television and in the print media and speculate on the characteristics of the killer, without being privy to the facts of the investigation. Unfortunately, inappropriate comments may spread misperceptions concerning serial killers and impair law enforcement’s investigative efforts. The rarity of serial murder combined with inaccurate information and fictional portrayals of serial killers have created seven main serial killer myths. I discussed these myths in a survey given to students in a rural college community.</p>
</div></div></div>Mon, 07 May 2012 20:16:18 +0000admin393 at http://www.crimemagazine.com